Siege of Leningrad

The Siege of Leningrad was a prolonged siege of the city of Leningrad (present-day St. Petersburg, Russia) by the German Army Group North which lasted from 8 September 1941 to 28 January 1944. 725,000 Wehrmacht troops took part in the siege of the city, with the Finnish Defense Forces and an expeditionary army fro Italy reinforcing the Germans. The Soviet Red Army had more troops to defend the city, but they were starved of supplies, ammunition, and food in the longest and deadliest siege of modern history. The Soviets opened a narrow land corridor to the city on 18 January 1943 after over a year of the German blockade, and the Soviets held off massive German armored assaults. One major German assault was repelled eight times before its last units managed to push the Soviets back; the Soviets lost 103 men and 26 vehicles, while the Germans lost 461 men and 98 vehicles. The Soviets would not lift the siege until a year and ten days after they began the process, and the Soviets were able to force the Germans to retreat into Estonia and the Finns towards Finland.